St. Vincent Hill neighborhood squatters rile Vallejo residents

A Kentucky Street home received widespread attention last weekend after Vallejo police discovered that a Sacramento woman had been kidnapped from Oakland and allegedly was being held at the house against her will.

But neighbors say the house has been on their radar for the past several years, after the last owner was foreclosed upon by the bank, and squatters took over.

"Foreclosures and vacated houses and all of this has been going on for years and years," Petaluma transplant Vicki Ovens told the Vallejo City Council on Tuesday night. "How, in America, can criminals move into an empty house? The banks that have foreclosed it won't take ownership; the man who can't live in it anymore can't do anything about it -- but these awful people can move in and totally destroy a neighborhood...?"

Ovens was joined by neighbor after neighbor, who stood and demanded solutions from their city leaders to the long-time problem. One woman said she "lost it" and bought a megaphone to yell at the illegal neighbors when she could get no help from city departments.

Cameron Shearer described 318 Kentucky St. as "the scene of massive crime," linking the squatter takeover to the fact that the number of owner-occupied homes on his block has fallen from 13 to two in recent years.

"We had a rapist, two kidnappers (in the house)," Shearer said. "My life is at risk. I cannot emphasize that enough. My life is at risk."

Mayor Osby Davis, who recently returned from Washington D.C., where the U.S. Conference of Mayors hosted one of their events, said mayors across the country shared similar squatter concerns. Davis said he agrees that the city needs to get a handle on the issue, starting with a uniform city policy dealing with squatters in vacant properties.

Shearer said the City Attorney's Office's effort to go after negligent property owners with its pilot Neighborhood Law Project is good, but that he wants "a solution that will keep our neighborhood safe tonight."

Following the line of speakers, Davis said he heard of a number of potential squatter solutions, like companies that clean out and board up vacant properties. The city is also about to discuss an in-the-works vacant property registration ordinance. Wells Fargo officials have also reportedly reached out to Vallejo officials to offer to begin dealing with their problem properties, Davis said.